Baseball Isn't Always Dreadfully Dull
by missy52061
Summary: The Castles and Jim Beckett watch a World Series game. To celebrate my lifelong favorite team clinching the NL East title on Saturday and a new episode of Castle tonight! As always, I don't own Castle, I just wish I did!


**A/N: In my world, Kate Beckett and her dad are Mets fans. And James Richard  
Castle was born April 1, 2016. **

October, 2017

"C'mon, Kate. Let me wake him up!" Rick Castle pleaded with his wife. They were in the kitchen gathering more snacks for the rest of the family.

"Castle, no way. Besides, he's 18 months old. He's not going to remember any of this." Kate Beckett Castle had to put on her captain voice. A part of her wanted to wake James, wanted him to be a part of this. But a cranky 18 month old was not fun. On the other hand, Rick would be the one dealing with him tomorrow, not her. "Alright, Rick. Wake him up. Just don't whine to me that's he's cranky, okay?"

"I won't! Besides, he'll probably end up being happy if everything goes right. And so far, it's all going right!" After running up the stairs, Rick entered James' room, gently picking the little guy out of his crib. James looked adorable in his Mets onesie, a gift from big sister Alexis. Rick carefully made his way downstairs with a still sleeping James in his arms.

Meanwhile, the other members of the family, including Martha, were watching the game in the family room. "Boy, DeGrom still looks good. But he's due up in the bottom of the eighth, so I bet he'll be pulled for a pinch hitter," Jim Beckett said to the room in general.

Kate was nodding her head, and added "Yeah, especially if someone's on base. I'll feel more comfortable if they build on this lead. 2-0 is good, but 3-0 would be better."

Alexis chimed in, "Even if the Yankees don't have Jeter anymore, they have too many good, smart hitters that could turn this around quickly."

Jim had always enjoyed watching baseball with his daughter, but since her marriage to Rick in 2014, he enjoyed it more. Watching games with Rick, Kate and Alexis was a hoot. They went to Citi Field as much as they could, especially after Rick got season tickets. Alexis and Rick may have been casual fans, but being with the Becketts turned them into crazy fans. And they were all thrilled that James loved to 'watch' games with them.

As Rick walked into the room with James in his arms, the Mets had runners on the corners, and David Wright was up. He drove in another run with a sac fly, and the occupants of the room cheered. James was startled but rallied quickly when he saw his Papa Jim. He put out his arms to Jim, and Jim was more than happy to hold him. It was the bottom of the 8th in Game 4 of the 2017 World Series, the Mets were up 3 games to none on the dreaded crosstown Yankees, and they had a lead in Game 4. And now he had his grandson in his arms, his daughter was in the room, happy and healthy, cheering on her favorite team.

"Okay, here we go – the top of the ninth!" Kate announced. "A 3-0 lead, and Familia on the mound. Gosh, I hope they get those three outs quickly." Familia got those first two outs quickly, but the next Yankee batter, Brett Gardner, was not going down without a fight. It was hard to tell who was the most nervous in the room, and even James Richard Castle seemed to be on the edge of his papa's lap. But then, Familia threw his pitch, Gardner swung and missed and "The Mets are World Series champs!" Kate yelled out. She danced over to her husband, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Rick, they did it!" She then almost ran over to her dad, but it was James she hugged and kissed. "Look James, they did it! They won!" He laughed and clapped, but all he knew was mommy and daddy were happy and that was good enough for him.

Jim figured it was time to tease Kate a bit. "So you'd rather celebrate with a guy that's been a fan for a year rather than celebrate with your old dad – who has been a Mets fan since 1962?" Kate blushed, but Jim just laughed. "Oh Katie, that's okay. I'm just teasing!"

But Kate threw her arms around her dad and hugged him tight. "I'm so glad you're here to celebrate this with us. Someday, James will love hearing how he was here."

It made Jim remember how he had to cajole Johanna into letting him wake Katie up on that night in October, 1986. It was a Monday, Katie was almost 7 years old, and she had school the next day. But he wore her down, and Katie was a part of his celebration the last time the Mets had won it all. Jo even let Katie go to the victory parade with him. As always at times like these, his thoughts were on his wife. "Jo," he thought, "you'd love seeing how our girl is so happy now. Not just because our team won but because she's in love with a great guy who loves her back. Now they have a son together. She's got a family and we've got a grandson and a wonderful granddaughter too. Even a wonderful mother-in-law that thinks she's so special. Our Katie's got a fantastic life. And the Mets just won the World Series, too," knowing that would make his wife, a diehard Mets fan, happy too.

Rick turned to Kate and said, "Do you think we should bring James to the victory parade?" They all laughed.

 **A/N: I wrote this sometime last year to make me feel better about my lifelong favorite team, the New York Mets. I just changed a few little things, and here we go!**


End file.
